Monday, July 6, 1998 Last modified at 12:36 a.m. on Monday, July 6, 1998

Three indigenous Indian children sit in front of a mural of General Emiliano Zapata in the small community of Morelia, in the Mexican state of Chiapas. Morelia is under the jurisdiction of Altamirano Estado of the Ejercito Zapatista de Liberation Nacional (EZLN). AP PhotoZapatistas' hold dwindling in Mexico

MORELIA, Mexico (AP) - The biggest thing in this little village is a sprawling rebel meeting center: a scattering of clapboard buildings on the edge of town with a lurid painting of revolutionary icon Emiliano Zapata.

The work that went into building the center three years ago testifies to the support the leftist Zapatista National Liberation Army enjoyed after its January 1994 uprising.

But only a handful of people now can be seen on the center's grassy grounds. The wood on the buildings is starting to age. Crooked doors hang open.

In Morelia itself, dozens of villagers are having second thoughts about the rebellion, apparently because they're wearying of the conflict - and because of government efforts to erode the rebels' base of support.

Late In May, 69 people signed a letter to Chiapas Gov. Roberto Albores Guillen saying they no longer oppose the federal government.

"We now repent and recognize our errors in the past," they said.

It was perhaps the most significant government triumph in a campaign trying to stamp out some 35 rebel self-governments created since 1995 in the remote, rugged canyons of Mexico's southernmost state.

In recent weeks, the government has produced similar petitions from several other Zapatista strongholds.

It has taken a tougher line elsewhere. There have been four raids by hundreds of soldiers and police on similar towns. Pro-Zapatista local leaders were arrested on charges of usurping government functions. In June, eight villagers and two policemen died when Zapatistas resisted government forces raiding villages in the El Bosque area.

The rebels call the self-ruled villages "autonomous municipalities" and reject state officials' authority.

Government officials are using carrots and sticks to try to isolate the Zapatistas and force them to resume peace talks on government terms.

For example, aid programs are being increased for villagers willing to work with representatives of the authorities.

The army, meanwhile, has tens of thousands of soldiers in the rebel region.

Rebel sympathizers from outside who once poured into the area now face checkpoints where officials inspect documents. More than 100 foreign observers, mostly Zapatista sympathizers, have been expelled for violating their visas or allegedly meddling in politics.

Following months of high-level official criticism, Roman Catholic Bishop Samuel Ruiz quit as the conflict's main mediator. The government accused him of a pro-rebel bias.

Morelia's support for the rebels didn't come easy. Human rights groups accused troops of raping three village women and killing several villagers taken for interrogation during the two weeks of heavy fighting at the start of the Zapatista uprising in 1994.

In February 1995, villagers fled into the hills when troops briefly pushed into Zapatista territory.

Soon afterward, the government passed a law declaring the Zapatistas a legal political movement to smooth the way for peace talks. But the rebels have remained armed and wary, and talks have been suspended since late 1996, increasingly frustrating national officials.

Morelia residents are wary of explaining their change of mind - whether out of mistrust of outsiders or fear of the rifle-toting Zapatista fighters who trudge past the chickens on the village's dirt paths.

A score of men in front of the town's farm hall hushed one another when a few started to explain their position to a reporter. None would give his name. But they insisted the letter to the governor was genuine.

"There were a lot of problems," said one. "The government is promising a project."

"What we want is to be at peace," he added, before warning glances silenced him.

A Zapatista activist in town, who also nervously declined to give his name, insisted some of those who signed the document were underage or from outside the village. Others, he said, had always been supporters of the government.

The men at the farm hall denied those claims.

The activist said the government was buying support by offering to auire land on the outskirts of town for a cattle project and by donating a truck to the farm union and food to friendly villagers.

He said Zapatistas would not accept government control. Referring to the June clash at El Bosque, he added, "If the government continues to spill blood, we will spill some."